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Hidden Gems of San Francisco

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This story is brought to you by the great people over at the Bold Italic. The Bold Italic is an online magazine, shop, and events hub in San Francisco. We celebrate the free-wheeling spirit of the city.

San Francisco is like an artichoke.

It’s not an onion, whose layers are stinky and may make you cry — but rather a big, beautiful bud that makes you really work to get to its rich center. Oddball visionaries, lesser-known histories, and unconventional destination spots arguably make up the meat of our city’s beloved urban heart. See anything missing on this map? If you’re feeling benevolent, add your secret spots to the comments section below.

A jetty made by Exploratorium artists in residence in the ’80s that uses cemetery stones with inlaid pipes to create an organ when the waves come in at high tide.

Appointment-only (and only open on Wednesdays), this privately owned library is filled with rare books and ephemera categorized in the Prelingers’ anti-Dewey “serendipitous” style.

What began as a silk screening print shop has now also become an impressive vintage arcade, housing 20 pinball machines, skeeball, and scores of other classic games at ’80s arcade prices.

An antique penny arcade with artifacts from the Zelinsky family who had previously displayed their games at Playland at the Beach in the 1920s.

A hidden stretch of beach to the south of Treasure Island’s yacht harbor is shielded from the wind and offers great views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge.

The inside of the forest at Mount Sutro is just as lush and majestic as it looks from afar, with easy-to-navigate trails along its ridges that may be more fun to explore through the fog than on a sunny day.

The artistic director of the Velocity Circus opens his home to the public (by appointment) in experimentally themed rooms and a labyrinth to symbolize “the path of life.”